Miami Hurricanes athletes coping with coronavirus hiatus

The impact of the coronavirus on the Miami Hurricanes athletes has been felt more than how it impacts their sports. It has also affected their daily lives.

A week after the NCAA Tournament and the rest of college sports were canceled halfway through March, Miami Hurricanes athletes were coping with the fallout. Most of the Hurricanes athletes were able to make it home, but some were still on campus through March 20 according to Miami athletic director Blake James.

In a wide-reaching interview with the Miami Herald, James discussed thoroughly the impact that cancelation of spring sports has had on a half dozen Miami Hurricanes teams. While fans and the media have had to cope with the loss of the NCAA Tournament and spring sports, the athletes have been affected far deeper.

The approximately 400 athletes who participate in sports at Miami come from South Florida, out of state and foreign countries. Athletes have had to deal with the loss of competition, being able to use the workout facilities and the ability to have access to a nutritionist and other vital staff that are critical to an athletic program.

James told the Herald that some athletes live in off-campus housing, some have gone home to stay with their parents and with restaurants and cafeterias closed on and off campus to dining in them, grab and go will be available to athletes still in Coral Gables.

"“We have some that live in the area in off-campus apartments or houses, and others have gone home to stay with their parents. I don’t know what that number is overall. The ones we do have on campus, some are international, some are local and some are from out of state.Our on-campus cafeteria will provide grab-and-go type meals for our kids there.’"

The future for the college sports and if their will be a fall sports season is unknown at this point. The loss of football would be financially devastating to call Division I programs. Nearly a week after the interview with James, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit told ESPN radio he does not expect there to be a season.

Prior to the comments by Herbstreit, James took a much more cautious approach and is probably correct in saying that no one truly knows that this point what is going to happen with the fall sports or beyond that. Miami has an exciting football season to look forward to after roster changes and new staff additions.

"“Until we get to the point of knowing exactly what that is going to look like, it’s hard for anybody to say, ‘Yes. I want it.’ I know our coaches have had some conversations with some of our students and there have been mixed responses. I don’t know that anyone has said they’re a definite yes.”"

The players throughout the Miami Hurricanes athletic teams are now responsible for their own workouts. These late teenagers and early 20 somethings are having to grow up extremely quickly. James praised the Miami athletes’ competitiveness and the importance of them staying active while on indefinite hiatus.

"“The young people in our program want to compete to win ACC and ultimately national championships and I’m sure they’ll be doing things on their own. Anytime you’re in a situation like this where your life changes so much you want to get out and get some energy releasedWe’ll send things out to them they can work on to help them stay in shape and release stress, but nothing will be required right now.’’"

Miami like other athletic programs throughout the southeast has an advantage over the teams in the midwest, northeast and west because they have had situations of having games canceled before and having to be isolated because of Hurricanes. In 2017, Miami had games canceled in consecutive weeks because of Hurricane Irma.

"“Their experience with hurricanes has really made things flow well…I feel for all the athletes who lost the chance to compete at something they worked so hard for. That’s been an unfortunate reality of this situation, and our heart goes out to all of them at every level.’’"

The most notable athletes for the spring sports who were impacted were the Miami baseball team who was a consensus top 10 team and defending NCAA Women’s tennis champion Estella Perez Somarriba. Both tennis and baseball were about a month into their seasons when the rest of the college sports year was canceled.

Perez-Somarriba and several Miami baseball players will have a decision to make about coming back next season. As a senior, Perez-Somarriba is on track to graduate but with all other seniors in spring sports, were granted an extra year because of the coronavirus. She will have a decision to return for 2021 or become a professional.